22 Questions on Social Media for Dentists, Answered

22 Questions on Social Media for Dentists, Answered

Last month, we held a webinar tutorial on how dentists can maximize their practice’s presence across today’s top social media channels. During this presentation, we received an abundance of great questions which we’ve answered below!

Do we need a personal account on Twitter to open a professional page as well?

Twitter does not differentiate pages for businesses vs. people the way Facebook does, so on Twitter, you only need one account which should be branded and named after your practice.

What if you created a Facebook Business Page but didn’t link to your personal page? Can you combine the two? Also, how do you get your name off unverified pages?

Unfortunately, if you create a Facebook Business Page for your practice but didn’t link it to your personal Facebook profile, it’s possible Facebook will delete the page.

To get your name off unverified pages, first search for your practice name on Facebook. If you find a page that matches your practice, follow these steps to claim the page first. During these steps, you’ll have the opportunity to combine the existing page with any page you already have access to from your personal page. Repeat this process for any unverified pages you find until you combine every page to ensure you don’t have any unverified pages with your name on Facebook.

How do I get my business name to be on top of Google search?

There are a few ways to get noticed toward the top of Google search results – you can do so via paid ads (PPC), organic listings (requires dental search engine optimization), and optimizing your Google My Business profile.

Read this to learn what you can do to optimize your Google My Business (GMB) profile to get noticed within the “map” section of search results. And, call us to learn more about dental pay-per-click and search engine optimization solutions at (888) 932-3644 or download the whitepaper to get a high-level overview of what’s involved with dental pay-per-click advertising.

Can you put a link to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram profiles on your email signature?

Absolutely! In fact, we encourage you to do this. You can include a simple line that explains the benefit of following your practice with links to each respective page (e.g. Get oral hygiene tips and offers by following us on Facebook, Twitter, and/or Instagram!)

What are some good programs for creating logos and content for posts (like cartoons)?

There are many sites available, but one that we love is www.Canva.com. It’s a great (and free!) tool that allows you to create logos and content without any professional design experience.

How do you send a link in an email to have a patient “Like” your Facebook Business Page directly?

We recommend going to your Facebook Business Page to get the full URL. Then, in the body of your email, you can simply ask the patient to “Like our practice on Facebook, here” where you hyperlink the text “here” to the actual URL.

You can do this by right-clicking the word “here” and clicking “add link” – simply paste your Facebook URL into this section.

Does the personal page connected to the Facebook Business Page have to be active? Meaning, can you have an incomplete personal page, photo, etc., and yet have the Business page filled out?

It is OK to have an inactive personal profile while having an active Facebook Business Page for your practice. Because the two are separate from one another, having an incomplete personal profile will not negatively impact the performance of your Facebook Business Page. That said, if you do have an active personal profile, you can use this as another tool to drive more traffic and “Likes” to ask people to share the word about your page.

Can I “Like” other dental-associated Facebook Business Pages from my practice’s Facebook Business Page?

Yes, you can “Like” other Facebook Business Pages from your practice’s Facebook Business Page, however this content will not appear in your personal newsfeed (there is a separate newsfeed for Facebook Business Pages). This means you’ll miss out on content from the page that you “Liked” if you’re on your personal profile. A best practice is to “Like” other Facebook Business Pages from your personal profile so you don’t miss out.

What are the best social media platforms for reaching patients?

For dentists, we recommend having a presence on Facebook, Instagram, and Google+. Facebook has a large reach and wide-range of users, plus your profile can be used to showcase reviews, share educational articles, photos, and videos.

Instagram is great for dental practices because it provides more information about your practice, visually. You can showcase before and after photos, your office, team members, and more.

Google+ is important because optimizing your profile can help you get noticed toward the top of search results. By gaining more reviews, having a complete profile, and showcasing key information about your practice, you can easily drive more traffic to your website.

How important is it to include hashtags on your posts on each platform?

It will not make or break the success of your page, but it is a good practice and habit to form. You don’t need to go overboard with 50 hashtags per post, but it is recommended to use a few hashtags that pertain to the topic of your post for maximum visibility (e.g. #chicagodentist #oralhealthtips #cosmeticdentistry).

We have two Facebook Business Pages per office. Is it better for us to merge the two since its only one doctor in practice? We have two websites as well.

It’s best to have to have one Facebook Business Page per location. If you have two pages per one office location, then you will want to combine the pages with same address.

The reason for this is because Facebook is one of the top directories that Google considers when triangulating name-address-phone number data, which can help with your website’s local search rankings. By creating two pages for each practice location, you can potentially increase your website rankings as well.

Can you connect Instagram with Facebook?

Yes! You can link your accounts so when you post a photo to Instagram, you can also have it shared to your Facebook Business Page.

Where on Facebook can I find which posts have the most likes?

Within your Facebook Business Page, in the navigation bar, you’ll see a row of options where you should click Insights.

Here, you will find analytics with information on the performance of your content and pages. On the left-hand column of the page, you’ll find an option to click “Posts” to see which ones have the most likes, comments, and clicks. Use this information to understand which types of content your audience prefers most and post more of it!

How do you suggest getting followers if you are just starting a new Facebook Business Page not connected to your personal profile?

The first step would be to send an email to all of your patients letting them know you’re on Facebook and requesting they “Like” your new Facebook Business Page (with a link as well). Let them know what they can expect from doing this gesture – will they get weekly tips? Special discounts? Educational articles? Let them know what’s in it for them, and they’ll surely like your page!

You can also include signage in your office and add a sentence to your signature lines via email. Train staff to tell patients about your practice’s new social media presence before they leave your office.

Is there any way you can have a Facebook Business Page without merging with your personal profile?

To control a Facebook Business Page, you must get to it through a personal profile. Although they are completely separate profiles, for added privacy, you can make sure on your personal profile to keep post privacy limited to “only me” or “only friends” so the public doesn’t see it, or use an incomplete personal profile to manage your business page.

Can you also explain the “boosted” post and what that exactly does? Is it worth the money?

Boosted posts are ones that you apply money to, in order to increase the audience it reaches. It’s one of the simplest ways to advertise on Facebook. Boosted posts are different than Facebook ads because they are not created in Ads Manager and don’t have all of the same customization features.

Try testing a small amount of money first to see if it helps your page get more likes. If it does, try a bit more budget until you feel you’ve reached your goals.

As Instagram wants pictures of a certain size/parameter, how do you manage posting to both Facebook, Instagram and Twitter?

Instagram will allow photos of different ratios to post but using a square is still considered best practice. Facebook and Twitter are more flexible, but using a square image across all platforms allows you to post simultaneously to all platforms while ensuring your content shows well on each network. Try using www.Canva.com to create square images or the crop feature on your phone.

Do my other coworkers have to know my personal passwords to log-in to the practice’s Facebook Business Page?

No. You can simply name other coworkers as an “Admin” on your Facebook Business Page so they can log-in to Facebook under their own personal profile. You can also set different controls to distinguish how much an individual is able to control or edit the page.

Want to learn more about marketing your practice on social media? Click hereto listen to the full social media tutorial where you’ll learn how to create strong social media profiles and pages for your dental practice on today’s top networks.

Marketing your dental practice on social media can be time consuming and tricky. Learn how ProSites handles it all for you and call us at (888) 932-3644 for a free demo.